Means for securing screening to building gutters



Dec. 11, 1962 F. H. GOOSMANN MEANS FOR SECURING SCREENING TO BUILDINGGUTTERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1959 v l k INVENTOR. F aeo ll.Qioasmnmv,

Dec. 11, 1962 F. H. GOOSMANN MEANS FOR SECURING SCREENING TO BUILDINGGUTTERS Filed May 14, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III! IIIIIII/ INVENTOR.

FRED H GaasMA/Wy BY l-0lkj United States r spacer MEANS FOR SECURINGSCREENING T BUILDING GUTTERS Fred H. Goosmann, 5970 Oak Ridge Road,

, Hamilton, Ohio Filed May 14, 1959, Ser. No. 813,246 4 Claims. (Cl.210-474) would be the case if the job could be more economicallyaccomplished.

The chief purpose for applying screening to a building or roof gutter isto prevent the depositing of leaves in the gutter and which leaves findtheir way to the gutter drain opening or downspout and clogs the same. IThe gutter screening generally employed is what is known as quarter inchwire cloth and it has been considered necessary and essential toreinforce or finish the edges of the screening and secure the screeningin position on the upper edges of the gutter in such a way that a toolwas required to effect both the securing of the screen in position aswell as for releasing the screen from the gutter when access to theinterior of the gutter was desired.

The present invention overcomes the objections to the screeningheretofore employed and the rather expensive way of securing the saidscreening in position.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to providea gutter screen and means for securing the same in operative positionthat is economical to produce, acquire and use. 7

It is also an object of this invention to provide a gutter screentogether with means for securing the screen in position whereby saidscreen may be readily mounted and secured in position and just asreadily demounted to permit access to the gutter.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention should be readilyapparent by reference to the following specification considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part thereof and itis to be understood that any modifications may be made in the exactstructural details there shown and described, within the scope of theappended claims, without departing from or exceeding the spirit of theinvention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of one form of gutter withwhich the screen and mounting or securing means of the present inventionmay be employed.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a second form of gutter withwhich the screen and mounting or securing means of the present inventionmay be employed.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the gutter of FIG. 1showing the screen and its securing means of the present invention inoperative position.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of a gutter and itsmounted screen of the type and construction disclosed in KG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing on an enlarged scale thecross section of gutter of FIG. 2 with a screen secured in operativeposition by the securing means of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal plan view of a portion of a guttersuch as disclosed in FIG. 5 with the screen secured in operativeposition.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a screen mounting and securing clipforming a detail of the present invention.

atent "ice fihlhhl Patented Dec. 11, 1962 FIG. 8 is a view similar toFIG. 7 showing a. modification; in a screen mounting and securing clip.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIGS. 7 and 8 showing a further modificationin the screen mounting and securing clip.

Throughout the several views of the drawings similar referencecharacters are employed to denote the same or similar parts.

As somewhat diagrammatically illustrated in the drawings, a building,particularly at its upper end, is provided with uprights 9 and anexterior facing or surface construction including a member indicated at10 which is at the upper end of the building and has the roofing rafters11 extending, generally, at an upward, inward angle on which is securedthe roof 12 which may take the form of sheeting or the like. Secured tothe sheeting is the roofing material or visible roof 13 that may takethe form of water proof and fire resistant shingles, generally referredto as asbestos shingles. The said shingles and even the roof sheeting 12generally project outwardly of the upper end of the framing or exteriorsurface member 16 of the building.

Secured to the said upper end and exterior member 10 is the gutter, astandard form of which is illustrated in FIG. 1 at 14. This gutter 14 isgenerally referred to as a half round gutter and comprises asubstantially semicircular bottom or body portion 15 from which upwardlyxtends sides 16 and 17. The side 16 may have its upper end reinforcedand is secured in any suitable or acceptable manner such as by nails 18to the outer surface exterior member 10 of the building. The front side16 of the gutter is likewise reinforced by having its free end rolled onitself as a head 19. The gutter is secured to the member it) of thehousing at a point below the upper end thereof and with a space of themember 10 exposed, as indicated at 20 in the drawings, so that the lowerfree ends of the roof 12 and roofing material 13 project over the openupperend of the gutter but be in a plane upwardly of the upper end ofthe gutter sides 16 and 17.

The modified gutter illustrated in FIG. 2 is generally referred to as anogeegutter and is substantially rectangular in cross-section including,however, the elements of the gutter in FlG. 1. The said gutter 21 inFIG. 2, therefore, includes a bottom 22 substantially horizontal or atright angles to the building frame and from the inner endof which bottomupstands a side 23 at right angles to the bottom 22. Upstanding from theother end of the gutter bottom 22 is the front side which includes alower portionZ-i at right angles to the gutter bottom 22 followed by areversely bent body portion 25 and top portion which includes anexterior vertical portion 26 and an inwardly projecting horizontalportion 27.

Insofar as this invention is concerned it makes no difference whetherthe half round gutter of FIG. 1 or the ogee gutter of FIG. 2 isemployed, since, they are each mounted on the building with respect tothe free end of the roof in the same manner so that the roof dischargesinto the gutter at a point, generally, above the horizontal plane of thegutter open upper end.

in the present invention and particularly in the method of applying ascreen to the gutter advantage is taken of the space 20 above the backside or wall of the gutter and the upper end of the building member 10for mounting the rear end of the screen. In other words, and as seen inFIG. 3, for example, the gutter screen 29 has its rear end 30 solidlyabutted against the inner surface of the building front member llil andhas the said inner end 36 as high up under the overhang of the roof12-13 as possible and with the front end 31 of the screen 29 at theouter edge of the gutter, particularly the outer edge of the gutter head19 in FIG. 1, and outer edge of the horizontal portion 27 of the gutterin FIG. 2.

It should be noted that the upper edges of the gutter back and frontsides are in the same plane and, therefore, since the inner end of thescreen 29 is elevated above the upper edge of the gutter back side orwall and the forward edge 31 of the gutter is on the upper edge of thegutter front side or wall, the screen 29 will be on a slight downwardangle outwardly of the building, as clearly illustrated, for example, inFIG. 3. It remains now merely to secure the screen 29 in this position.

Specifically, the present invention contemplates clips readily formableof relatively stiff wire which can be applied at any point on theforward edge 31 of the screen and clipped in position to the upper edgeof the gutter front wall, as shown for example in FIG. 3.

The securing clamp in FIG. 3 and more clearly illustrated in FIG. 7,comprises a pair of parallel arms 32 and 33 between which the forwardedge of the screen is disposed and with said clip arms 32 and 33 eachincluding a downwardly disposed portion, respectively, 34 and 35 thatterminates in a circular connecting portion 36. The said circularportion 36 acts as a spring for tending to hold the arms 32 and 33 intheir normal operative positions and which positions may be described asa clamping position for clamping between them the portion of the screen29 including the forward edge 31 of said screen. In order to anchor theclip to the screen 29 the inner end of one of its clamp arms, clamp arm32, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, for example, is downturned as at 37 tohook behind one of the longitudinal wires of the wire cloth screening.In this connection it is presumed that by wire cloth screening is meantthat material formed of interlaced or woven longitudinal and transversewires, disclosed in the drawings and which Wires are respectivelyidentified by the reference numerals 33 and 39. In order to retain thesecuring clip to the gutter the inner end of the other clamp arm, 33,for example, is provided with a downwardly projecting spring finger 40which, in the form of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3, is outwardlyarched and secures the upper end or head 19 of the gutter front side 16between itself and the spring arms 3435.

In practice it is contemplated that the screening 29 would be suppliedin sections of four to ten feet in length, for example, and that asecuring clip would be employed at approximately the ends of the saidlength of screen and at points approximately one foot apart between theends.

In applying the screen 29 to the ogee type of gutter a slightlydifferently formed securing clip would be employed, such as thatillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 8. The said clip in FIGS. 5 and 8 issubstantially identical with the clip illustrated in FIG. 7 except thatinstead of having the depending spring arms 34 and 35 at the outer endsof the clamp arms 32 and 33, the said clamp arms 32 and 33 of FIG. 8depend on the connecting bend 41 at their outer ends to supply theyieldable clamp pressure. The further difference in the securing clip ofFIG. 8 over FIG. 7 is that instead of an arcuate spring arm 40, in FIG.7, use is made, in FIG. 8, of a right angularly depending arm 42 fromthe clamp arm 33 and with an inwardly projecting lug or end 43 at thelower end of the depending arm 42.

By this construction the securing clip of FIG. 8, with the ogee type ofgutter, has the depending arm 42 depending from the inner edge of thehorizontal portion 27 of the gutter front side and with the inwardlyprojecting lug 43 projecting beneath said top horizontal portion towardthe front vertical portion 26.

The securing clip illustrated in FIG. 9 is substantially identical withthat in FIG. 8 except that the depending arm 42 is at the inner end ofthe clamp arm 32 while the inner end of the clamp arm 33 is providedwith a short lug 44 taking the place of the hook 44 of the form in FIG.8. The operation of the securing clip of FIG. 9 is the same as that ofthe clip of FIG. 8.

The improved method of applying the screen and securing the same inoperative position consists in selecting desirable lengths of screen andof a width to extend from the outer surfaces of the building atsubstantially the highest point above the rear side or wall of thegutter to the outer edge of the forward side of the gutter. Secured tothe said screen length at the desired points along its forward edge is asecuring clip. The application of a securing clip consisting in workingthe forward edge of the screen between the clamp arms 32 and 33 thereofand which attachment can be readily effected by disposing the clip inthe plane substantially parallel with the plane of the screen and withthe clamp arm 32 above the screen and the clamp arm 33 below the screenand when the screen has been inserted into the clip the desired amountthe clip is turned to be vertically or at right angles to the screen andwhich causes the anchoring arms 37 and 44 to engage behind a horizontalwire 38 of the wire cloth or screen and thereby prevent inadvertentdisassociation of the clips and screen.

The screen lengths are then mounted in operative position with the inneredges 30 thereof against the aforementioned point of the buildingsurface and whereupon the front edge 31 is brought down against theupper edge of the gutter front side or front wall using the said contactof the rear edge 30 of the screen with the building as a fulcrum point.At each point of the clips, the depending spring arms will be inwardlyactuated and lock the said clips and therefore the forward edge 31 ofthe screen lengths in position. This locking of the parts with the clipas shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 consisting in clamping the bead 19 between thespring arm 35 and the spring arm 40, while in the form illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 8 this connection being effected by the spring arm 42 andinward projection 43 hooking beneath the front horizontal portion 27.

It was pointed out above the inner edge 30 of the screen 29 engages thebuilding outer surface at the most desirable point upwardly of thegutter back or rear side or wall but, it should be noted, that so longas the width of the screen 29 is greater than the horizontal distanceoutwardly of the building exterior member 10 and the outer edge of thegutter outer side or wall the securing of the screen to the gutter willbe accomplished due to the fact that the said mounting clips whilefastening the outer edge 31 of the screen to the upper edge of thegutter outer side or wall also applies pressure through the screen tohold its inner edge 30 against the forward or outer surface of thebuilding member 10 and thereby prevent displacement of the screenlengths 29.

It should be noted that, as implied above, the screen 29 upon beingmounted as above set forth outwardly and downwardly inclines therebyhaving a tendency to clean itself of leaves as the said leaves arecaught thereon. At the same time it will be obvious that due to thisarrangement leaves that are temporarily retained on the upper surface ofthe screen can be readily blown from the screen, since, they will be ineffect, biased to discharge themselves from the screen due to thedownward, outward angle thereof.

It should also be noted that should it be desired to gain access to theinterior of the gutter the same can be readily accomplished by merelyapplying a slight outward springing pressure to the clamp arms 3435 ofthe form of clip in FIGS. 3 and 7 and by applying a slight inwardpressure to the arm 42, of the form of FIGS. 5 and 8, with said inwardspringing pressure on the said arm 42 being readily applied by liftingthe arm 32 cansing an inward swinging action of arm 42.

Obviously the screen is returnable to its normal operative position byfollowing method above set forth.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device of the class described the combination with a gutterhaving an open upper end between upstanding front and back wallsthereof, of a length of wire screen of a width less than its length butgreater than the distance between the upper ends of the gutter front andback walls and with said screen having its inner end anchored above theback wall of the gutter and its outer end on and contiguous with theupper end of the gutter front wall, and releasable spring means carriedby the screen outer end yieldablyremovably securing said screen outerend to the gutter front wall comprising a clip formed of a length ofwire folded on itself to include portions underlying and overlying oneanother with the outer edge of the screen therebetween, said overlyingportron having at its inner end a depending hook extending through anaperture in the screen, said underlying portion having depending fromits inner end an arm in engagement with the inner surface of said gutterfront wall, and said overlying and underlying portions having theirouter ends joined to one another to provide means for yieldablyretaining said screen overlying and underlying portions in operativerelation to one another, to yieldably clamp the screen between saidoverlying and underlying portions and to yieldably retain the armagainst the inner surface of the gutter front wall.

2. In a device of the class described the combination with a gutterhaving an open upper end between upstanding front and back wallsthereof, of a length of wire screen of a width less than its length butgreater than the distance between the upper ends of the gutter front andback walls and with said screen having its inner end anchored above theback wall of the gutter and its outer end on and contiguous with theupper end of the gutter front wall, and releasable spring means carriedby the screen outer end removably securing said screen outer end to thegutter front wall comprising a clip formed of a length of wire folded onitself to include portions underlying and overlying one another with theouter edge of the screen therebctween, said overlying portion having atits inner end a depending hook extending through an aperture in thescreen, said underlying and overlying portions each having at its outerend a depending outer arm with said underlying portion outer arm againstthe gutter front wall outer surface, said underlying portion havingdepending from its inner end an arm in engage ment with the innersurface of said gutter front wall, and said overlying and underlyingportions depending outer arms having their lower ends joined to oneanother to provide means for yieldably retaining said screen overlyingand underlying portions in operative relation to one another, toyieldably clamp the screen between said overlying and underlyingportions and to yieldably retain the lower portion inner and outerdepending arms against the inner and outer surfaces of the gutter frontwall.

3. In a device of the class described the combination with a gutterhaving an open upper end between upstanding front and back wallsthereof, said gutter front wall having at its upper end an inwardlyprojecting horizontal portion, of a length of wire screen of a widthless than its length but greater than the distance between the upperends of the gutter front and back walls and with said screen having itsinner end anchored above the back wall of the gutter and its outer endon the inwardly projecting horizontal portion at the upper end of thegutter front wall and means for securing the forward edge of the screento the gutter front wall inwardly projecting horizontal portioncomprising a clip formed of a length of wire folded on itself to includeportions underlying and overlying one another with the outer edge of thescreen therebetween and the said clip lower portion on the gutterinwardly projecting horizontal portion, said clip overlying portionhaving at its inner end a depending hook extending through an aperturein the screen, said clip underlying portion having depending from itsinner end an arm in engagement with the inner edge of the said gutterfront wall inwardly projecting portion, and said clip overlying andunderlying portions having their ends joined to one another to providemeans for yieldably retaining said clip overlying and underlyingportions in operative relation to one another, to yieldably clamp thescreen between said overlying and underlying portions and to yieldablyretain the clip lower portion inner arm against the said inner edge ofthe gutter front wall inwardly projecting portion.

4. In a device of the class described the combination with a gutterhaving an open upper end between upstanding front and back wallsthereof, said gutter front wall having at its upper end an inwardlyprojecting horizontal portion, of a length of wire screen of a widthless than its length but greater than the distance between the upperends of the gutter front and back walls and with said screen having itsinner end anchored above the back wall of the gutter and its outer endon the inwardly projecting horizontal portion at the upper end of thegutter front wall, and means for securing the forward edge of the screento the gutter front wall inwardly projecting horizontal portioncomprising a clip formed of a length of wire folded on itself to includeportions underlying and overlying one another with the outer edge of thescreen therebetween and the said clip lower portion on the gutterinwardly projecting horizontal portion, said clip overlying portionhaving at its inner end a depending hook extending through an aperturein the screen, said clip underlying portion having depending from itsinner end an arm in engagement with the inner edge of the said gutterfront wall inwardly projecting portion, said clip overlying andunderlying portions having their ends joined to one another to providemeans for yieldably retaining said clip overlying and underlyingportions in operative relation to one another, to yieldably clamp thescreen between said overlying and underlying portions and to yieldablyretain the clip lower portion inner arm against the said inner edge ofthe gutter front wall inwardly projecting portion, and said clipunderlying portion depending arm having at its lower end a hookunderlying the said gutter front wall inwardly projecting horizontalportion. 1

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,219,953 Fry Oct. 29, 1940 2,365,845 Schweda Dec. 26, 1944 2,841,100Moller July 1, 1958 2,948,083 Steele Aug. 9, 1960 2,997,763 Serfass Aug.29, 1961

